


Rose of the Earth

by spiketheespiegel



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, Original Character(s), POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-28
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 22:54:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29750247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiketheespiegel/pseuds/spiketheespiegel
Summary: As the chunin exam begins, a talented shinobi and her teammates face intense competition and form fierce friendships.
Relationships: Nara Shikamaru/Original Character(s), Nara Shikamaru/Original Female Character(s), Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

I was a horrible test-taker. I was nervous about getting caught cheating, so I just narrowed it down and focused on one question. If I could at least get this one question right, then I technically wouldn’t have completely failed. I felt bad putting it all on my teammates-- Lia and Tomo --but I was confident they could pick up my slack. 

Occasionally an examiner would demand that one of the test-takers leave the room-- they had been caught cheating too many times, and therefore were no longer allowed to resume the rest of the exam. Failed. Doomed to wait at least another six months to try to become a chunin again. I heard that some here had already failed the exam seven times. The thought of taking this exam even just once more made me queasy.

I was pretty sure I had gotten my one question correct. I glanced at another question. Maybe a second look would strike some inspiration? But no such luck. It was some obscure physics problem. I didn’t bother trying to understand it; I was shit at most science and math. I scanned the rest of the questions and felt a similar hopelessness. 

I was completely restless. The examiners were constantly scratching down notes as they observed all us genin, and the noise irritated me. Everyone’s tense anxiety was palpable. I put down my pencil and stared out the window. There were no rules against _that_ , at least. The window offered a small view of Konohagakure. It was a nice place, the Hidden Leaf Village. Technically my home, though I still felt like an outsider. Many of the buildings I could see from this vantage point had angular sloping roofs, and from a distance they all had a somewhat lopsided appearance. The village itself was small but its many winding alleyways between shops as well as its paths to the various neighborhoods reminded me of when I was a little kid, when everything felt bigger and more full of mystery than it really was.

My stomach rumbled. There was a very good ramen shop a five minute walk from here. I wondered if they would give us a lunch break after the first part of the exam was over…

My attention was brought back to the test as the proctor announced it was time for the final question, which hadn’t been revealed yet. The catch was, if you got it wrong you were never allowed to take the chunin exam ever again. So, you had the option to opt out and try again next year. And if you opted out, you forfeited your entire team.

I stared blankly at the proctor, waiting for the question. I had no clue if I could answer it. But I didn’t find the threat of a lifetime ban from the exam very threatening. Rules could be broken. Nothing ever really lasted a lifetime.

Besides, I didn’t really care if I became chunin or not...

But at least three test-takers stood up, deciding they weren’t up to it. Each of their teammates stood up-- some of them visibly enraged, some of them relieved --and followed them out of the classroom. Two seats diagonally in front of me was Lia. She fidgeted in her chair. She lifted her hand slightly.

_Damn it_ , I thought. Lia was probably the most booksmart out of the three of us. But she had a confidence issue. Would she really throw away our chance before we even knew what we stood up against?

Instead of raising her hand, she just stroked her long brown hair as if she was trying to get a tangle out. I sighed. 

Now some scruffy blond kid was talking loudly. I recognized him as another Hidden Leaf ninja, but couldn’t remember his name. He was talking a big game, telling the proctor that he wasn’t afraid of whatever he had in store for us. The proctor stared back expressionless as the kid rambled on. The rest of the genin listened, both amused and inspired by his brazenness. Nobody else got up to forfeit the rest of the test.

When the blonde kid was done talking, the proctor grinned and addressed us all: “Congratulations. You’ve passed the first part of the exam.” Everyone murmured, confused yet pleased, as the proctor explained there was no final question. It had been a test within a test. The first nine questions didn’t even matter.

Unfortunately, there was no lunch break. 

Lia and Tomo and I barely had time to speak before we ventured into a place called The Forest of Death (how dramatic) for the second part of the exam. The three of us decided we’d take turns carrying our Earth scroll. I was first. Together, we ventured into the dark woods.

We ran quietly and quickly, jumping from tree limbs and sticking to areas with thick foliage to stay as hidden as possible. We were headed in the direction of the white tower, the center of the forest. After an hour, we took a break and ate some of the fruit and nuts Lia had been carrying. We spoke softly, sitting in a giant oak tree.

“Did you notice them?” Tomo asked us. 

Lia nodded, but I shook my head.

“There’s a group about a kilometer in front of us,” Tomo explained. Damn, I needed to work on my detection skills. On the ground, I was excellent at it-- but hopping from tree to tree, I was hopeless.

“We should see who it is, and try to determine if they have a scroll we need,” I said. “And even if they have another Earth scroll, we should take it anyway.”

“But isn’t that unnecessary?” Lia’s voice was shaky. “Shouldn’t we conserve our energy?”

“It’s a smart precaution,” Tomo said. “In the case we somehow lose our scroll, or perhaps we can trade it with another group.”

Lia’s eyes were still wide, but she nodded.

“Besides,” I grinned. “Don’t you want to do a little fighting after that boring test? Could be fun.”

Lia rolled her eyes. “Maybe for _you_ , Rose.”

“ _And_ you, Lia,” I said. “You’ve been working hard on your taijutsu, now’s your chance to test it out!”

“We should get going,” Tomo said, standing. “And it’s my time to take the next shift.”

“Right…” I stuck my hands down my pants and retrieved the scroll. I offered it for him to take. He hesitated, blushing a little. “What?” I said. “I had it strapped to my leg!” Lia giggled. Tomo’s face remained serious as ever as he grabbed the scroll from me. His eyes narrowed a little as he pocketed the scroll, but he said nothing.

“That an Earth scroll?” a voice crooned from behind us. We spun around. A ninja from the Hidden Rain Village was smirking at us. “Mind handing that over?”

“Where’s the rest of your team?” Tomo asked. “Isn’t it a little risky to take on three of us by yourself?”

“Good point.” The rain ninja made a hand sign and about a hundred clones materialized. One lunged at Lia. Surprised, she stumbled but quickly regained her footing. She aimed a strong high kick at the clone’s jaw. There was a loud smack as her foot made contact, but the clone’s head seemed to have only flickered in reaction.

“Hmm,” I said. “Weird clones.”

“You like them?” one of them asked before lunging to attack me. I jumped to another tree branch to avoid contact. 

“Heh.” Tomo was smirking. His dark blue eyes were wide and glistening, his pupils transformed into swirls. When he was using his Kekkai Genkai, his eyes were equally frightening and beautiful. 

“You see ‘im, Tomo?” I asked.

“Yeah, I see him...” Tomo jumped down from the tree, landing gracefully on his right foot and left knee. 

“You got me,” the real rain ninja said sarcastically. Tomo ran toward him at full speed, a kunai held firmly in his hand. But just as he struck, the enemy disappeared. The rain ninja reappeared by breaking through the surface of the earth right behind Tomo.

“Tomo!” Lia and I shouted. Tomo turned around just in time to avoid getting stabbed, but it was only a feint. The rain ninja flipped over Tomo and-- it was as if I was watching it in slow motion --the rain ninja extended his arm purposefully, slipping his hand into Tomo’s pocket. The rain ninja landed softly, and jumped onto a nearby tree branch. He tossed our Earth scroll playfully in his hand, smirking at us. 

“Thanks,” he said. “Since you gave me what I wanted, I’ll let you live.” With that, he melted into the tree until he disappeared completely.

“Tomo!” Lia and I jumped down. Tomo had already caught his breath and his face was unreadable as usual.

“Are you alright?” Lia asked, her voice high-pitched.

“He didn’t touch me,” Tomo grumbled. “Rose, how did you know?”

I shrugged. “It was only because you two were talking about how you sensed the group ahead of us. I was annoyed, because I hadn't even realized they were even there... I just so happened to be straining my senses at that moment, and I felt the rain ninja’s presence.”

Tomo nodded. “I only noticed when you handed me the fake scroll.”

“What?” Lia looked at us, confused. “The scroll wasn’t real?”

Tomo shook his head. “When Rose realized that someone was watching us, she used substitution jutsu. She still has the real scroll.”

“Good thinking,” Lia was impressed. 

“Yeah, but…” Tomo was blushing again. What a rarity! I felt accomplished, making the serious Tomo blush _twice_. “Did you have to use… a tampon?”

Lia was overcome with giggles. “A _tampon_?”

“What?” I said, shrugging. “It’s not like it was a _used_ tampon. But that would have been funny. Something to think about for next time...”

A flock of startled black birds flew into the sky as the forest was pierced by someone screaming. Someone in pain.

“We should keep moving,” Tomo said. Lia and I nodded, and we made our way toward our next enemy.

The group Tomo and Lia had sensed before were from the Hidden Sand Village. But they weren’t alone now. The sand ninja with the gourd on his back seemed to be confronting a group-- some more ninja from the Hidden Rain Village --while his comrades hesitated behind him.

“This is good,” Lia whispered to us. “Two of our enemies are about to fight. We’ll get to see their weaknesses and strengths-- and whoever the victor is will not only be tired, but also have the scroll we need.” Tomo and I nodded, impressed. We all watched in silence.

I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but the rain village ninja seemed confident while the sand ninja-- except for the one with the gourd --seemed like they wanted to avoid conflict. Something beige was suddenly slithering through the air. _Sand_. It was coming from the gourd on the sand village ninja’s back.

The sand warped itself around each of the rain ninja and devoured them. Their lifeless, bloody bodies slammed to the earth.

_Holy shit_ … 

Lia gasped and covered her mouth in shock. Tomo didn’t seem to be breathing at all, his eyes glaring unblinkingly. The sand ninja began to move toward the tower once more, the sand now slithering back into the gourd. 

“What the hell was that?” I whispered angrily. “They didn’t even take the rain ninjas’ scroll!”

“ _That’s_ what you have an issue with? That one guy killed all of three of them without even moving-- just using _sand_!” Lia said. Tomo said nothing.

I jumped from the tree and landed in between the dead ninja and the sand ninja. “Rose!” Tomo hissed after me.

The sand ninja turned around as they sensed my presence. “What the hell was that?” I repeated, this time directly addressing them.

“Gaara has a bloodthirsty monster inside of him,” one of the sand ninja said simply. He had a painted face and carried some sort of mummy on his back. “If you don’t want to die, you should run away now.” His comrade, her hair pulled into four buns, leaned on a giant folding fan and glared at me. The third sand ninja-- the one who I now knew as Gaara --stared at me. His expression reminded me a little of Tomo. Difficult to read. Now that I was closer I noticed that he had a tattoo above his left eye: _LOVE_ , it said, written in Japanese characters. Huh.

“Your accent,” Gaara said quietly. “Where are you from?”

“Konohagakure,” I said. I pointed to my headband, which I had wrapped around my forearm.

“Hmm,” he said simply. 

“Gaara, we should keep going--” the one with the painted face started. He was trying to be a leader, but his voice was more pleading than commanding.

“You didn’t have to kill them,” I seethed. “You didn’t even take their scroll.”

“Killing...” Gaara’s sand was now floating threateningly in the air around him. “...confirms my existence.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?” I shouted. They all were slightly surprised at my language, but Gaara was unfazed. The airborne sand was now shooting straight for me.

Suddenly, it stopped. It was hovering between Gaara and me, shimmering in the late afternoon sunlight.

“What?” the girl with the fan looked at the sand, and then at Gaara and me. Both she and her comrade looked surprised. 

Gaara was glaring at me. “You… are you…?”

Someone jumped down behind me. “We should go, Rose,” Lia’s weak voice said. “I’ve got the dead ninjas’ scroll. We don’t need to fight…”

“Yeah, alright…” I heard Lia scurry off. I was still staring back at Gaara. “Well, gotta go. Guess I’ll see you in the next part of the exam.”

The sand was still suspended in the air. Half of its mass slithered over to me and wound around my body like a tornado. I let it lift me into the trees back to my comrades. As soon as I rejoined them we ran away from the sand ninja. Neither Lia nor Tomo said anything, but I could sense their anger.

We ended up farther away from the tower since we wanted to avoid another run-in with the sand ninja. We stopped for another break near a stream. It was almost dark out by now. Still not talking, we gathered our dinner and set up a make-shift camp. It was only until we finished eating that they spoke to me.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Lia said to me. Her voice was still shaky, but determined.

“Lia’s right,” Tomo said. “You just barged in, with no plan or purpose.”

“We got the scroll, didn’t we?” I growled. I felt bad, but I was surprised at how defensive I felt. How could they possibly understand...? 

“That’s not the point,” Lia frowned.

“You acted without regard to our mission,” Tomo said. “And you could have gotten Lia killed.”

“I can handle myself,” Lia snapped, surprising both Tomo and me. I had never even seen Lia so much as contradict Tomo. She usually looked at him with wide eyes, like he was perfect. She sighed. “We’re a team,” she said. “We need to be able to trust each other.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. It’s just… I don’t know.”

“It’s okay,” Lia said. Tomo gave one nod of his head.

“Thanks,” I said. 

“We should get some rest, and start early tomorrow,” Lia said.

“I’ll take the first watch,” Tomo said. “I’ll wake one of you in a few hours.”

I just wanted to get the exam over with, but I was also exhausted. I laid down, my head resting on my balled up jacket. Within seconds, I was asleep.

We all were ready to go the next day at dawn. The crisp air felt good in my lungs and unfogged my sleepy brain as we ran through the trees once more. Hopefully, in a few hours, we would be at the tower and this part of the exam would be over already. We had been going for about an hour when Tomo came to a sudden stop. 

“What is it?” I whispered.

Lia frowned. “Something’s wrong…”

“Should we go see what’s happening?” I asked. Tomo nodded, and we all quietly descended to the ground. Hiding behind trees, we watched.

A girl with pink hair was kneeling beside her two comrades, both unconscious. She wavered a little; she must have been exhausted. She was looking at a distance in front of her-- three sound ninja were creeping towards her.

“Should we help her?” I asked.

“We have the scrolls,” Tomo said. “We shouldn’t risk it.”

“The sound ninja are cruel,” I said. “I don’t want them to kill her...”

“I don’t know…”

“We can do it,” Lia said. “There’s three of them, and there’s three of us. We can do it.”

Tomo paused. “Alright. But let’s be smart about this...”

But just as we were about to intervene, one of the unconscious bodies rose.

A pale boy with dark hair faced his enemy head on. Even from a distance, his chakra felt abnormally powerful. He easily dodged attacks and soon had one of the sound ninja in his control. He pulled mercilessly at the sound ninja’s arms, as if he was trying to pull them off of his torso… Was he strong enough to do that?

We didn’t find out. The pale boy stopped when his pink-haired comrade desperately wrapped her arms around him. While he was distracted, the injured sound ninja slumped forward and his comrades stepped up to take his place.

“I think I should go help,” I whispered. “What do you think?”

Tomo nodded. “I’ll watch your back.”

“Be careful,” Lia pleaded. I nodded.

I ran toward the fight, stopping in between the leaf ninja and sound ninja.


	2. Leaf Ninja Unite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rose and Rock Lee come to Sakura's aid.

I glared at the sound ninja. The two uninjured ones stared back at me, watching my every move. 

“Sakura,” I said. 

“Y-yes?” she was shaking. My back was to her, but I’m sure she was hovering over her odd comrade. He had collapsed just as I intervened.

“I need your help,” I said. “Leave your comrades, for the moment. We can fight them together.”

“They’re after Sasuke!” she said, her voice a little hysterical. “I can’t leave him…”

I nodded. “Alright.”

As I stepped forward, I sensed movement in the foliage. Was that Tomo? He really had so little faith in me that he’d jump in to help already--?

A sprite, lithe Leaf ninja landed next to me. It wasn’t Tomo-- it was that second-year ninja with thick eyebrows and an intense bowl cut.

“I told you, Sakura! I will always be here to protect you.”

“Th-thank you, Lee,” she stuttered.

I peered at Lee. “Can you hold them off? I think I can help heal Sasuke and that blonde kid.”

Lee nodded, his eyes serious as he glared at our enemy. “Of course!”

“Great,” I said. “Don’t kill yourself, though. Give me a shout when you need some back up.”

He simply nodded again as I walked over to Sakura and Sasuke. Sakura looked at me warily. “I know some healing jutsu,” I said to her as I kneeled down and hovered my hands over Sasuke’s chest. My fingertips glowed blue.

“Ah!” I jerked my hands back. It felt like I had been burned.

“What’s wrong?” Sakura asked, her eyebrows furrowed deeply.

I shook my head. “This is beyond my ability. I’m sure you’ve noticed the markings on his skin…” The odd inky blots on Sasuke’s body had receded to three dots on his neck. “For now, I can ease the pain-- but we need to take him to a medical chunin as soon as possible.”

Sakura nodded as I hovered my glowing hands over Sasuke’s body again. Slowly, he seemed to gain strength. “Who are you?” he asked me suspiciously.

I smirked. “Who are  _ you _ , Sasuke? Why does everyone seem to be after you all the time? And what’s up with your sick new tat? I think it’s infected.” He scowled at me. I heard Lee shout in pain. I shrugged. “Well, that’s my cue. Sakura-- I’ll revive your other teammate as soon as we finish these dudes.”

With that, I jumped into the ongoing fight.

“Lee!” I shouted. “Are you alright?”

He was winded, but he grinned. “Just getting started!”

I grinned back. “Great.”

  
Together, we faced the two sound ninja. Subtly, I felt my pocketful of sand.  _ Yeah _ , I thought to myself.  _ That should be enough to do it… _


	3. Ice Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chunin exam preliminaries begin.

“So that bowl cut guy must be Lee’s sensei, right?” I asked. “They look almost identical.”

Sakura nodded.

“But who’s that guy with the silvery hair, wearing the mask?”

“That’s our sensei, Kakashi,” Naruto beamed proudly. 

“ _ That _ ’ _ s  _ your sensei?” I asked them.

“Yeah… why?” Naruto squinted at me, confused.

“Uh, well... He’s just extremely hot, that’s all,” I said. Surely, it was obvious.

Naruto scowled and Sakura giggled, blushing.

It had only happened hours previously, but it had felt like years ago since we were in the second stage of the chunin exams. It had taken Lee, Tomo, Lia, and myself to finally defeat the sound ninja and find our way to the white tower with our scrolls. We made it through safely with the help of another Leaf ninja named Kabuto. He had failed the exam at least six times already, from what I heard. He was friendly enough, sure… 

But there was something about him. He helped us all out-- all the first and second-year Leaf ninja. For what reason? He was skilled. So why had he not passed the exam already? And why-- why in the  _ hell _ \--did he decide to give up before the final round of the exam had even started?

Whatever. I had to focus on what was happening now-- and make sure my teammates would pass. I had to push aside my suspicions. I had to focus my wandering eyes, even though they seemed to naturally gravitate toward Kakashi sensei…

I watched my comrades, my allies, my enemies-- I watched many of them as they fought hard, complicated battles. I was always surprised at the outcome of each match-- especially so at Naruto’s. 

“Wow!” I clapped him on the back after he had defeated Kiba. “I sorta thought you might be dead weight-- but you’re really good, Naruto.”

He sort of grinned and pouted at the same time. “Thanks, I guess.”

Suddenly, it was my turn. I jumped down to the main floor and faced my opponent-- a ninja I hadn’t encountered yet. One from the Hidden Rain village.

“Begin,” the proctor said.

Instantly, my opponent flooded the floor with water. I allowed myself to become consumed by it until I was nearly drowning.

“Come on, Rose!” I heard Naruto yell. “You can do better than that--!”

I grinned. My face broke the surface, and I yelled back at him. “Yeah, yeah... Naruto-- watch and learn…”

“Huh?”

“Shut up!” Lia hissed. “She knows what she’s doing…”

The water that surrounded me turned into ice instantly, capturing my opponent as well as myself. I broke free of the ice and stood atop of its surface. My opponent struggled to loosen himself in vain. I sat on the ice and watched for a few minutes. I yawned.

“Rose Korra is the victor of this match,” the proctor declared finally.


	4. Rose v. Shikamaru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final round of the chunin exam finally begins.

A month had passed since the last round of the chunin exams. After a couple of epic battles, it was my turn. I was facing another Leaf ninja called Shikamaru. My body buzzed with nerves. Butterflies in my stomach was an inadequate idiom. It was more like cicadas crawling underneath my skin.

“Geez,” Shikamaru said. He sounded exasperated-- and bored. “Why am I always going against girls?”

“Why does it matter if I’m a girl or not?” I was surprised. I thought Shikamaru was kind of cute, but any attraction I felt was completely gone now. 

“Guys shouldn’t rough up girls,” he said. “And I don’t want to get roughed up, either.”

I laughed. He looked irritated at my laughter. “Maybe you shouldn’t be a ninja, then.”

“You may begin,” the proctor told us.

“You’re a shadow guy, right?” I said.

“Yeah, and you’re a water girl?” he answered.

I shrugged. “You could say that.”

“Heh.” he smirked. He was a strategist, and a good one. I wondered what he had planned for me…?

His shadow stretched rapidly. I backed away quickly, avoiding its contact. At a certain distance, he couldn’t stretch it any further. I made a mental note. He easily dodged my water attacks, and then he ran to the trees. I stayed where I was-- no doubt he was hoping I’d follow, where the shadows were at his advantage.

_ CRACK.  _ It was the sound of something huge snapping-- and then a thick tree limb was shooting towards me. I dodged it. Simultaneously, Shikamaru ran out of the trees, his shadow chasing after me. Again, I ran to the point where I knew his shadow couldn’t stretch any further.

“Is this your strategy?” I asked. “Throw things at me until you hope I forget that your shadow jutsu has a limit?”

“Worth a try,” he said dryly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something in the sky. I looked up— Shikamaru had fashioned a sort of parachute with his jacket and a kunai, and it nearly cast its shadow over me. 

“Nice,” I said. I tried to shoot more water at him, but suddenly I couldn’t move.  _ What? I thought I had dodged the shadow... _

“The holes,” Shikamaru said simply.

_ Oh. _ There were two holes in the ground leftover from the last fight. The ones that Naruto used to burrow in, after placing a shadow clone as a decoy. I was standing between them. Shikamaru must have used the underground tunnel to stretch his shadow and trap me. 

He walked toward me, forcing my own body to walk as well. I tried to regain control but it was no use. “Good strategy,” I grumbled.

“It was a pain to come up with,” he said in his monotone sort of way.

“It was a good strategy,” I repeated. I smiled. “But not good enough.”

He frowned, and stopped walking. “What?” 

My body disappeared, leaving a tampon in its place.

“Substitution jutsu…” Shikamaru realized. “With a…  _ what is that? _ Gross!”

“Hey,” I shouted from the trees, where my real body had been the whole time. “It’s not like it was used...” I jumped down from the tree. “Now, it’s my turn.”

“Your turn…?” 

I started walking toward him. At the same time, he started walking toward me. He gasped, realizing that, now-- he was the one who couldn’t control his own body.

“What is this?” he asked. “A sharingan?”

“No,” I answered. I stopped the both of us when we were a few feet apart.

“But it’s exactly like my shadow jutsu…” He trailed off. He was looking at the ground, realizing I wasn’t manipulating his shadow. 

“It’s similar,” I agreed. “With one important difference.”

“What’s that?” He sounded both genuinely interested and very annoyed.

I sat on the ground, crossing my legs. Shikamaru remained rooted, still standing.

“What?” he said. “I still can’t move. But you’re--”

“Exactly,” I nodded. “I don’t have to mirror your movements while I control you.”

“How?” he demanded.

I shrugged. “Maybe I’ll tell you over a bowl of ramen after all this is over. Your treat, of course. Anway-- do you forfeit?”

He glared at me, then smirked. “Yeah. I used up all of my chakra, anway.”

I grinned, and relinquished my hold over his body. “Good. I didn’t want to rough you up, anyway.”

“Winner is Rose Korra,” the proctor announced. The crowd was equal parts excited and confused.

“That was amazing! The two of them kept outsmarting each other!”

“What! He just  _ gave up _ ?”

“That is some scary jutsu!”

“She was fighting with her clone jutsu that whole time!”

I was surprised when Shikamaru offered me his hand. I grasped it and he pulled me up to stand. “Thanks,” I said.


End file.
